


let me be your painkiller

by mlraven



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Bathing, M/M, Pain Management, canon disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-17 10:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5866639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mlraven/pseuds/mlraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the days when Harold's been coding so long his back seizes up, John bathes him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let me be your painkiller

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JinkyO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinkyO/gifts).



> Happy chocolate season, JinkyO! I hope you like it, it was a joy to write.

On the days when Harold’s been coding for so long that his back seizes up, on the days when there’d been so much that needed to be done that no amount of opioids or marijuana or heating pads will help him move again, John bathes him.

He eases Harold out of the chair and over to the bathtub that he’d lugged up the stairs with the help of a pulley. He rests Harold on the large, flat lip of the tub, gentle hands removing Harold’s suit, coat-vest-shirt-pants. He picks Harold up and climbs into the tub with him cradled in his arms, resting his own back against the back of the tub, Harold between his legs.

John tests the water’s heat on his own body before filling the tub around them, watching the steam fill their makeshift bathroom. Harold is rigid between his legs, back still frozen in spasm. John waits until the water surrounds Harold’s chest before reaching for the washcloth, submerging it.

He draws it gently over Harold’s legs, one at a time, foot-ankle-calf-knee. As he reaches the top of his thigh, he lets the washcloth float away, using his hands for the delicate skin at Harold’s groin.

Harold is silent in front of him, breathing as deeply as his aching ribs allow. He doesn’t twitch as John handles him; this isn’t the time for sex, this is the time for John to take care of Harold in ways he can’t take care of himself.

John retrieves the washcloth and runs it over Harold’s stomach, up his chest, over his shoulders and down his arms. When it’s time for Harold’s back, John moves from bracketing him to squatting behind, legs braced on either side of Harold’s trunk. He laves the washcloth up and down Harold’s back, rinsing the last day and a half off of him.

When Harold is clean, John scoops him up and stands up in the tub, holding him close. He climbs out and once more rests Harold, now blinking slowly, hazy with exhaustion, on the lip of the tub. He dries Harold off, wraps him in a soft, navy bathrobe, and bundles him into the waiting bed.

John crawls in beside him, kisses his forehead. Harold is already asleep; safe in the bowels of the Library, in John’s arms.


End file.
